Christian Standard Bible
Luke 12:21
21“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
- New International Version (NIV)“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."
- New King James Version (NKJV)“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Context of Luke 12:21
19Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’ 20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared — whose will they be?’ “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” 22Then he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. 23For life is more than food and the body more than clothing.
Read all of Luke 12Luke 12:21 word by word
οὕτως ὁ θησαυρίζων ἑαυτῷ καὶ μὴ εἰς θεὸν πλουτῶν.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Luke 12:21
- Luke 12:33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
- Luke 6:24But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort.
- Hosea 10:1Israel is a lush vine; it yields fruit for itself. The more his fruit increased, the more he increased the altars. The better his land produced, the better they made the sacred pillars.
- Habakkuk 2:9Woe to him who dishonestly makes wealth for his house to place his nest on high, to escape the grasp of disaster!
- Matthew 6:19“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
- Romans 2:5Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.
- 1 Timothy 6:19storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.
- James 5:1Come now, you rich people, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming on you.
- Luke 16:11So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine?
- 2 Corinthians 6:10as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
- 1 Timothy 6:18Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share,
- James 2:5Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
- Revelation 2:9I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Commentaries on Luke 12:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21So is he - That is, thus will it be. This is not an individual case; all who make this life their portion, and who are destitute of the peace and salvation of God, shall, sooner or later, be surprised in the same way. Layeth up treasure for himself - This is the essential characteristic of a covetous man: he desires riches; he gets them; he lays them up, not for the necessary uses to which they might be devoted, but for himself; to please himself, and to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21So is he - This is the portion or the doom. Layeth up treasure for himself - Acquires riches for his own use - for “himself.” This is the characteristic of the covetous man. It is all for “himself.” His plans terminate there. He lives only for himself, and acts only with regard to his own interest. Rich toward God - Has no inheritance in the kingdom of God - no riches laid up in heaven. His affections are all fixed on this world, and he has none for God…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-21Verses 13-21 Christ's kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. Christianity does not meddle with politics; it obliges all to do justly, but wordly dominion is not founded in grace. It does not encourage expectations of worldly advantages by religion. The rewards of Christ's disciples are of another nature. Covetousness is a sin we need constantly to be warned against; for happiness and comfort do not depend on the wealth of this world. The things of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-21This parable shows the danger of trusting in riches instead of in God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2120-21. this night, &c.--This sudden cutting short of his career is designed to express not only the folly of building securely upon the future, but of throwing one's whole soul into what may at any moment be gone. "Thy soul shall be required of thee" is put in opposition to his own treatment of it, "I will say to my soul, Soul," &c. whose shall those things be, &c.--Compare Psa 39:6, "He heapeth up riches and knoweth not who shall gather them."Read the comment
Topics related to Luke 12:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Luke 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Christian Standard Bible — © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Commentaries